Fairytale
by Alyssu
Summary: She always loved fairytales, and she longed for the day her pirate prince would take her away. But then came the day her fairytale ended.


_MFoMT_

- F a i r y t a l e -

_begin._

As a child, Popuri had always loved stories. Whether it was romance, adventure, or horror, it mattered not. She loved them all. However, as she grew older and her mother grew weaker from disease, her elder brother enlisted her to help with the farm chores. Popuri found less time for stories, and more time for chores.

But at the end of the day, even if she was tired and worn-out, pink-haired Popuri always found time for fairytales.

She loved the idea of a prince on a white stallion, saving her from danger. She was enamored with imaginary princes rescuing her from a witch's curse. She daydreamed as she did the chores, often dropping the eggs while she stood, eyes glazed over as she thought of her prince.

Her prince would surely ignore all the other girls in town for her.

He'd overlook Ann, who was strong and a good cook as well; gorgeous Karen, who could take anything; elegant Mary, with her features of a porcelain doll; Claire, the beautiful farmer's daughter that was good at everything; beautiful Aja, whose ice-blue eyes, black hair, and happy personality won her many friends; motherly Elli and her cute baby face. He would ride into town on his white horse, his snow-white stallion, and head straight to her parents' farm to ask for her hand in marriage. Everyone would be jealous, especially Karen and Mary, who were never jealous of anyone because they had everything.

But when Popuri was ten, she began to imagine not a handsome prince on his white Arabian stallion, but a roguish pirate with tousled hair and eyes like the ocean.

And she dreamed of this pirate from that year on, and would stare at the ocean, dreaming that he would come and take her away from Mineral Town. Her eyes would glaze over with dreams during her chores, and Rick would yell at her for dropping so much of their profit. ("All our money come from those eggs!") Popuri didn't care.

And in her fourteenth year, a young man arrived in Mineral Town, and when Popuri first saw him, her heart skipped a beat.

The young man was tanned, and roguishly handsome. His dark brown curls were hidden underneath his purple bandana. His dark eyes were curious and bright. He smiled easily and charmed all the women in Mineral Town. Even the women with grown female children. ("Such a nice young man!" The women smiled as their teenaged daughters mentioned him in passing conversation.) The younger men didn't hate him; in fact Cliff and Grey became friends with the bandana-wearing man. Rick was the only one that disliked him. Popuri's pirate introduced himself as Kai.

Kai and Popuri had an on-off relationship for several summers, since Kai only stayed during Summer.

But the young dreamer loved him like she never loved before. Her heart hurt when they broke up, or when he went away for the other three seasons. Her heart leapt with joy whenever she saw him, or whenever he asked her out on a date. She loved him liked she loved the pirate and the prince in her childish daydreams.

But when she was eighteen, Mary moved in on Kai.

The young librarian had recently been dumped by Grey, who had eyes only for Claire, and since Kai and Popuri were currently "off", she made a move on the traveler. Popuri had been heart-broken at first, but thought it wouldn't last.

How wrong she was.

She was twenty-one, and taking a walk on the beach when Kai proposed to Mary outside his beachside snack shop. Popuri's eyes filled with tears, and couldn't move a muscle as she watched Mary cry, "Yes, oh _yes_!" and embrace Kai. Something in her mind clicked, and she ran towards home.

And as she stood on the ferry heading towards Hinata Island later that evening, her eyes closed slowly and she breathed in the salty summer air.

Tears ran down her pale cheeks as her eyes opened to watch the strip of land that was Mineral Town disappear on the horizon. Her long hair swayed slightly in the breeze, and her fist clenched unconsciously.

She knew she still loved Kai. But Mary was her friend, and she loved Kai too. Popuri knew she had taken the coward's way out when she had first started packing her bag. But she also knew she could not stand to see Mary walk down the aisle of the church as a vision in white, as Kai stood at the altar in a black suit. She could not bear to hear Mary and Kai exchange words of love, and their first kiss as a married couple. Popuri knew that her fairy-tale happy ending ended the day Mary said yes.

And she knew that fairytales lied, and there was really no such thing as a happy ending.

At least, not for her.

_end._

**Well, what do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions. :DD A new take of the Kairy romance; Popuri's view of the pairing.**

**~Minaa**


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